Fifth-graders propose law to curb runoff from farms
Wednesday, June 2, 2004
By Jeff Kart
Times Writer
A group of local activists is proposing a new law that would help clean
up Michigan's waterways.
The group happens to be made up of fifth-graders from Washington and Kolb elementary schools in Bay City.
They took their case to the state capital last month, testifying before the Michigan House Civics Commission.
The proposal would require farmers to plant 100-foot-wide buffer strips along the edges of their fields to filter out fertilizers, pesticides and sediment than run off into ditches, streams and rivers.
"It goes in our water, and that's what we drink. It's gross," said Washington pupil Elyse Hogan, 11, one of eight local youths who testified.
The pupils' proposal would expand the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, or CREP, a voluntary government effort that pays farmers to set aside parts of their land for buffer strips of native grasses.
The students said they researched several issues while preparing for the trip to Lansing. They settled on buffer strips because the practice has many benefits, at a relatively low cost.
Washington pupil Sommer Brown, 10, said making the program mandatory would result in cleaner drinking water, healthier fish and reduced costs for dredging and wastewater treatment.
Justin Hart, 10, also from Washington, explained that runoff from farm fields goes into ditches, which eventually drain into the Saginaw Bay, where Bay City area residents get their drinking water.
Four students each from Washington and Kolb made the trip to Lansing.
They were invited by Earth Force, a Virginia-based nonprofit group that organized the testimony and works with schools to teach youths about community problem solving.
The children spent about two months researching the issue. They talked to farmers and soil conservation experts and worked with an Earth Force employee before making a half-hour, computer-assisted presentation to lawmakers.
Legislators were wowed, said Rep. Doug Hart, R-Rockford, co-chairman of the Civics Commission.
Rep. Hart (no relation to pupil Justin Hart) said the buffer-strip proposal made a lot of sense to him, and his office is investigating the idea. Calls have been made to state departments, the Michigan United Conservation Clubs and the Michigan Farm Bureau for feedback. He said he thinks something could come of the testimony.
"We take their ideas seriously," Rep. Hart said. "This was not a simulation experience."
Washington teacher Robert Kraut said pupils learn about Earth-related issues as part of their science lessons, and seem to be genuinely concerned about the environment.
"They realize that someday they're going to be faced with those same types of problems," Kraut said.
The CREP program has been suspended due to lack of state and federal funds, but may be reinstated later this year, said Kevin Wilson, a local CREP technician. More than 47,900 acres have been enrolled in the program in Bay, Huron and Tuscola counties.
The four children from Washington who testified were Hogan, Brown and Hart and Tory Clarke. The four from Kolb who testified were Caroline Asiala, Mallory McFarland, Shannon Sebald and Hanna Wetters, according to Hart's office.
- Jeff Kart covers the environment and politics for The Times. He can be reached at 894-9639.